Claudia's Savior
by Squirrel of the Green Dawn
Summary: Claudia Potter is the Girl-Who-Lived, and when she runs away to find out who her mother was, she runs into Severus Snape and he takes her in. This is the story about how she goes through her first year of school and finds out who her family is and there past. What will she discover in her adventure?
1. Chapter 1

"Wake up!" The rasping came from the door from the girl's aunt. The eleven-year-old girl opened her black flaked green eyes tiredly and looked at the door. She stretched as best as she could and grabbed her broken glasses and made her way out of the broom closet that was her room. She tied her black and red hair back with a piece of green ribbon that she took from the attic, and revealed her lightning bolt scar on her forehead. Her life was a very tired some life, from cooking to cleaning and then rarely getting anything in returned. "Claudia, get in here and start making breakfast!" Her aunt screeched.

"Yes, Aunt Petunia." She called back to her. She made her way into the kitchen where her aunt was sitting at the table reading the paper with her coffee. Claudia walked over the pantry to receive what she would need to cook breakfast. Soon after she started to cook breakfast, her uncle and cousin walked into the room as well. They both sat down at the table just as she put down their plates in front of them. She walked back to the stove and counters and started to clean up.

"Daddy, my bacons not crispy enough." Dudley wined. Claudia rolled her eyes while she was faced away from them and then started on a new batch of bacon for him. She then took the bacon and was about to throw it away when her uncle spoke up. "Oh no, don't go wasting money like that. You eat it and be grateful, for that's all you are getting for today."

"Yes, Uncle." Claudia said to him. She sat down at the table and ate the only meal that she was to get that day gladly. It was not only going to be the only meal that she was going to get that day, it was also the last meal that she would get in that house. The day before, when her aunt sent her up to the attic to clean, she found a photo album with an address of where her mother and aunt were from. She snuck the album down to her room and hid it under her bed.

She had everything ready to leave for that day. While her family went out today and leave her alone, she would take the money in the money jar and her bag that she fixed that was Dudley's with some food and the album inside, she would leave and go to King's Cross Station and head to Cokeworth to see where her mother was from. She has been dreaming of this day for a long time to finally find out who she is. "Have you been listening?" Her aunt broke through her thoughts. "What?" She said a little dazed.

"I said, if this house is not clean by the time one of us comes home you will be sleeping outside. Do I make myself clear?" She said leaning into her face. "Yes, ma'am." Claudia said acting like she was scared. She didn't want them finding out about her plans now did she. "Good." Her aunt leaned away and finished her breakfast.

After everyone was done, Aunt Petunia kissed her husband good-bye as he got in his car and drove away to work. She then took Dudley with her in down the street to the bus stop to go to town. After about twenty minutes, she climbed up to the top of the refrigerator and pulled down the jar. She pulled out all of the money and started to count it out to see if she would have enough to get to where she was going; she counted out 184.83 pounds. She figured that it would be enough for a one way to get there. She didn't know how much a ticket cost, so she figured she would take it all.

She ran to her room and started to pack up her bag. She went back to the kitchen and started to make her some sandwiches and grab her a few bottles of water. She ran to the door and made sure that none of her family members were there ready to catch her in the act. When she saw no one she ran out the door and over to the bus stop. After a few minutes, the bus that would take her to King's Cross Station. She paid the driver, who was looking at her like she was too young to be on the bus and was worried for her safety, 12.32 pounds for the ticket to get to the station and picked a seat in the very back of the bus.

After about twenty six minutes, they stopped at another bus stop and on came Aunt Petunia and Dudley. She saw them and tried to make herself as small as possible in the seat. They took a seat upfront and never took notice to her. Once then entered into London, she felt like she would make it. The soon stopped at a stop before King's Cross and her aunt and cousin got off; she felt so relieved. The next stop that they got to was her stop and she bolted out of the bus and into the station. She let go a sigh of relief that she was holding and walked up to the ticket station.

"May I help you?" The lady at the booth asked her. She had a kind smile to her that she really liked. "Yes," Claudia said, "I would like a one-way ticket to Cokeworth, please." The lady punched out the ticket and handed it to her. "That will be 38.46 pounds, please." The lady told her. Claudia handed her the money and took her ticket to gate seven to wait for her train.

After about half an hour, her train arrived and she got on. As she found a seat by the window, she saw police swarm the station along with her aunt, uncle, and cousin with them. The train started to move as they were all searching the station. She can't believe that she actually escaped her family-no her tormenters, for good. She leaned back in her seat and let out a giggle. That was something that she never did and she liked it. There was nothing that they could do now.

After about ten hours, the train stopped at her stop and she got out onto the new land. She looked around at the new surrounding like it would be her last time. The trees were lushly green along with the grass, but since the sun was down, it looked like it was on fire. The birds sang above her in the air and trees; the flowers on the hills where beautiful to look at for hours. The homes were like little cottages with two to three chimneys of a small village and the park was made of all wood and rope. She looked around the place and then at her clothes; her black shorts hung down from her and her grey shirt almost covering her shorts; the shoes that she wore almost sliding off of her feet. She looked like a homeless kid compared to the beauty of the town.

She felt sad to this, but started walking to the home that she knew belonged to her mother. She walked through the town and people were looking at her and directing their kids away from her. She really felt hurt from this, but kept her head high. She soon came up to the house that was her mother's. It was a beautiful two story house with a small flower garden in front of the house. She could see through the window, a family of four sitting down for dinner. She looked at them and saw how happy they were in that home and tears started to leak from her eyes. Her only wish was to have a family that would love her like that.

After seeing this family in her mother's home, she ran away to the park that she passed as the tears flew from her eyes. As she was running, she ran into the black pant jean legs of someone who wrapped arms, covered in a black wool material, around her in attempt to stop her, "Woe, calm down." The person said above her. She looked up into black eyes that were framed by black hair. The man was very tall and muscular with pale skin, and a nose that looks like it was broken at least once in his life. "I-I'm so-sor-sorry, sir." She choked out.

"What's wrong little one?" The man asked. "It-it's ha-har-hard to-to ex-expl-explain." She cried out. The man kneeled down to her high and looked into her eyes. He then looked at her close and back up at her, "Do you have a place to stay, little one?" He asked with a soft voice. "The park." She answered looking down at his black shoes.

He shook his head and looked at her, "Not tonight." He said as he got up from his spot. She looked up in confusion as tears streamed from her eyes. He took her hand and led her down the street to another house that looked like the one that she ran away from. He took her in and led her to a room that she found out was the kitchen. He led her to the counter and lifted her up before he walked out of the room to get something.

Claudia looked around the room as he was gone and saw that the room was an older looking kitchen. A stone fireplace sat at the far right of her and a sink with two different pumps that were different in shade, one a light grey and the other a dark grey looking color one, sat next to her. A small wooden table sat in the center of the room with four chairs around it, and the wooden cabinets and drawers sat above and under the stone counter that she sat on. The stove was an opening above the fireplace where a vent was in the back to let the smoke out to the top, and a wooden looking freezer and refrigerator sat at the far corner of the room by the door which the man walked through coming back into the kitchen.

The man walked over to her with a long white dress shirt that looked like it would fit over her small frame all the way down to her ankles. He handed it to her and turned around so she could change in peace. She changed into the shirt as fast as she could and then tapped the man on the shoulder to let him know that she was done. When he turned around, he took her old close and walked over to the fire place and threw them in. He then turned around to face her and saw that she was picking at the buttons of the shirt. He could tell something was wrong with her and so he walked back over to her.

She looked up when his shadow fell over her and saw him looking down at her. He lifted her up from the counter and led her into another room across from the kitchen. She found out, once she walked into the room, that it was a sitting room. The room had a comfortable feel to it with another fireplace, two chairs and a couch, two round tables sitting next to the chairs and a coffee table in front of the couch, and bookcases lining the rest of the walls. There was a TV above the fireplace along with small pictures frames filled with pictures- wait did that one picture just move? She looked at him and then back at the fireplace. All of the pictures look like they changed to be looking at them.

"I will explain." He said sitting in one of the chairs and pulled her into his lap. "I guess we should start with names first. My name is Severus Snape, but you may call me Severus." "Claudia, Claudia Potter." She told him quietly. He looked at her and his eyes got big at the name. She looked at him with confusion, "Is something wrong?" She asked a little scared. He shook his head a little, "No, no it's just that I knew your mother. We were good friends when we were younger." "What do you mean were?" She asked him.

"Your mother died a long time ago." He told her sadly. "I know, but you can still be friends. She's not gone completely. You still have the memories of the two of you together. She's never truly gone from you." Claudia told him looking up at him. He looked down at her as tears formed in his eyes. He held her close to him as he blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall from his eyes.

She looked up at him and him down at her. "You're right." He told her. "I want to tell you everything about her that I know, but first, how much do you know about your past and where you come from?" "I know that my parents died in a car crash." "What, who told you that?" He asked a little angry. "Aunt Petunia did." She said a little scared that she would get in trouble.

"You're not in trouble, my little one." He told her. "Why are you not with her now, may I ask." "I ran away from them and they found out all called the police." She said looking down at her hands. "How did you get the money to come here?" "I took it from them from their money jar, the rest is in my bag." Severus smiled as if he understood.

"Claudia, I want to show you something, but you must promise not to be scared and let me finish explaining, alright?" Claudia nodded her head in understanding. Severus pulled out a stick and showed it to her. She looked a little confused until red sparks flew out of it and around the room. She was so astonished by what was going on that she didn't see his face light up at what he was doing. The sparks then flew over to her and into her face. She leaned back as they just hovered in front of her face then they started to change color and shape in front of her.

She giggled at the sparks and looked up at Severus. He looked at her and smiled down at her. She was a real blessing to have around. Why would she ever run away? What happened to her while she was with her aunt and uncle? "Little one, why did you run away from your family?" He asked her.

Claudia looked away and answered, "They never loved me." "Now, that can't be true. You are a real blessing to have." She looked up at him with hope in her eyes, "You really think so?" "Of course I do." He said and held her close to him. "Have you eaten today?" "Yes, some bacon and a sandwich that I made for the train ride." "Is that all?" He asked a little astonished. "That was all I was aloud." She said looked up at him.

Severus lifted her up and took her back into the kitchen where he sat her in one of the chairs. Her little feet hung down and swayed. He looked at her with a smile on his face and shook his head, his hair flying back and forth. He walked over to a door off to the left that she didn't see her first time in the room and came back with an arm full of vegetables. "How does soup sound. It usually gets cold here and something warm might make you feel better." She nodded her head at the idea and then looked at him, "I never had someone cook for me before." She told him.

"What do you mean?" He asked, turning around from putting the vegetables on the counter. "I always cooked for my relatives all of the time, ever since I was young enough to walk." Severus looked at her at this and walked over to her. He knelt down and looked her in the eyes, "Claudia, I want to do something, but I want you're ok." "What is it?" She asked a little worried. "I want you to let me see into your mind to see what they did to you, will you let me?"

Claudia thought about it for a minute and then nodded her head hesitantly to let him do it. He put his index fingers on her temple and looked into her mind at the memories. He saw what happened ever since she could remember. He saw Petunia looking like a skinny horse throwing a frying pan at her head and just grazing her, a whale like man throwing her into a broom closet where a mattress sat on the floor with a thin blanket lying on top. He saw a smaller version of her uncle tripping her down the stairs and almost breaking a vase that she caught. He then saw her plan that she accomplished and the photo album that she had taken with her in her bag. He would take a look at it later once he was done looking into her mind.

He then saw all of the accidental magic that she did. From appearing up to the top of the school house roof to changing her teacher's hair blue. There was many more and these were the ones that he would keep to himself. This was a proud moment in a parent's life for a wizard or witch to do magic for the first time and since he never had kids of his own, he would keep these as if he were her parent and now he knew what it was like to experience this. He took his hands away after he saw all that he needed to see and looked back at her. She looked up at him a little worried and he just smiled. "I promise you, I will never sent you back to those people as long as I live." He said running his fingers through her hair.

She threw her arms around him and held on tight like he would disappear if she let go. Severus wrapped his arms around her and held on tight to her. Severus moved away to look at her and smiled, "I will never let anything happen to you, ever." Tears fell from her eyes and he wiped them away. He stud back up and walked back over to the counter.

He looked over his shoulder at her and smiled when he saw her looking at him. "Would you like to help me?" He asked turning back to the cutting that he started to do. "I would love to." She told him as she got up from the chair that she was sitting in.

He pulled out his wand and summoned a stool over for her to stand on next to him over the sink. "You can clean the vegetables and I'll cut them." He said with a smile on his face. She walked over and climbed up onto the stool. Severus looked down at her and for the first time how small she was. She's supposed to be ten-years-old and she looks to be about five maybe six.

"Claudia, how much did your relatives feed you while you were living with them?" She looked up at him from the sink, "About three time a week. Sometimes if I'm in trouble I wouldn't get food for a week to a month, just water to keep me from not doing my work." "Hmmm," He said in thought, "What kind of work did they make you do?" "Well," She said looking back at the sink with the warm water and vegetables were in, "I cooked, cleaned, did the clothes, paint the house whenever it needed it, served for other family members, stayed locked up in my room whenever we had guest, I worked in the garden, the yard, and I think that's it." She told him and then looked up at him. He looked down at her in astonishment and anger at what they made her do.

"Is something wrong?" She asked a little worried. "Yes, something is wrong, but not to you, what your relatives did to you and made you do." He said to her. "Tomorrow, I'm going to go see them and set them straight. You will never see them ever again." He turned back to the vegetables before him and started to cut them again. She turned back to the sink and smiled a little thinking about never having to go back to them ever again and that they would get to know how she felt.

After a while, while the soup was simmering in the kettle over the fire, Claudia and Severus were sitting at the table talking and getting to know each other. She was told all about the school that she would be going to and everything that she would even know about going to Hogwarts. Severus even when and got his Hogwarts: A History for her to read so that she was all set up for knowing everything there was for her to get ready for school and to also help her better know who she is. He would take her to Hogwarts tomorrow and ask McGonagall to watch her as he talked with Dumbledore about her relatives and then go talk with them. He walked over to the fireplace and stirred the kettle when Claudia spoke up, "What will happen to me since I'm not going to live with my relatives?" She was a little worried about not going to stay with Severus. She really wanted to with him and find out more about her life and about her parents.

He turned to look at her once he was done stirring the soup and sat back down at the table. He looked her in the eyes and said, "I will keep you until you find someone who wants to take you and will treat you right, but later on if you want, you can stay with me." Her eyes lit up when he said the last part and she smiled with so much joy that she looked like she could light up the night sky with her happiest. Severus smiled at her and then walked back over to the kettle. He took two wooden bowls and filled them up, taking them back over to their spot. He summoned two wooden spoons over to them and then handed one over to her, "I find wooden bowls keep the heat in and that wooden spoons don't heat up as fast as metal ones." She nodded her head as if she understood.

After dinner, Severus took her to the sitting room and walked over to one of the bookshelves across the room from them. He pulled on a snake statue that swung the bookcase back revealing a staircase leading up. He took her hand and led her upstairs to a hallway with double doors at the end. He led her to the end of the hall and opened the double doors at the end of the hall and moved away so she could see. She walked in the room in awe at the sight of everything.

The walls were done in a dark forest green color with a silver beam going across the middle of the walls with a fireplace at one end of the room next to a dark black door and a king size bed in the center of the room pushed up against the room. There was another door on the right side of the room also in black with a dark cherry wood desk slanted in the far right corner of the room with a matching chair behind it and two chairs in front. A cherry wardrobe sat in the far left corner of the room next to a nightstand next to the bed and an oil lamp sat on the nightstand with a picture sitting next to it. The windows were from the floor to the ceiling and had thick forest green curtains and silver curtains under them to cover them at night. The books in the room were on the mantel piece of the fireplace with two snakes at the book ends and a pouch sat at the right end of the mantle and a strange glow came from the opening.

She walked into the room and looked at him. He nodded his head and she continued into the room. She looked around the room and took every little detail in. She walked over to the fireplace and looked at the green bag with the silver drawstring that had the light coming out. Severus walked over and took the bag down to show her, "This is called floo powder, you throw a pinch in and the fire will turn green, then you step in and call out your destination that you want to go to. We will be using it tomorrow." He said looking at her. She looked at him in awe and then back at the powder.

He put it back where it was and then showed her the doors, "This one," he indicated to the one next to the fireplace, "goes to your room. The other door," he turned to the one across the room, "goes to the bathroom, come." He started too walked to the other bed room. He opened the door and showed her a similar room with a fireplace, a smaller desk, a queen size bed, a wardrobe, and the rest of the walls were covered in bookshelves. There was one part of the wall with a floor to ceiling window with green and silver curtains.

"Why is everything in green and silver?" She asked as Severus scooped her up in his arms and took her over to the bed where he preceded to tuck her into bed. "I am one of the head houses at the school. I run Slytherin house, where my students are considered cunning. There also made up mostly of pure blood wizards and witches." "What do you mean pure blood?" She asked in confusion.

"Well there are three different types of wizards; pure bloods, half-bloods, and Muggle-borns. Pure bloods are people who have a wizard father and a witch mother and usually all the way through the family tree to the beginning of the days. Half-bloods are wizards with a magical parent and a Muggle parent. Lastly, a Muggle-born is a wizard with both Muggle parents, most of the time in this case the child is abused because of their ability and the parents are afraid of what they can do. They usually want to beat the magic out of them, but they just end up killing the child in the process."

"That's terrible." Claudia said a little scared that her relative were probably trying to do that to her. "I know, but I will never let anything like that happen to you, I promise." He told her reassuring. She smiled at him and nodded her head. He smiled back at her and walked over to her door before she spoke up, "Sir?" He turned around to see her propped up on one elbow, "Yes?" "Goodnight, sir." He smiled at her, "Goodnight, Claudia." He turned the light out and closed the door leaving a crack open.

He walked over to his desk and pulled out a quill and parchment and proceeded to write a letter to the headmaster about what happened that day and that he would be seeing him tomorrow. With that he called his black barn owl, Nightingale, and handed the letter to her. With that she flew out the window and Severus went to bed for the night waiting for the next day to begin. In the other room, however, Claudia didn't want to go to sleep incase this was all a dream and she would be in her broom closet again. She soon fell into a restless sleep full of nightmares of her relatives.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Severus went to wake up Claudia and he found her in a terrible state. She looked to be in immense pain and he didn't know from what until he hear her talking in her sleep, "Please, Uncle, I'm sorry." She was having a nightmare and Severus did the only thing that he could think of; he walked over briskly and sat down on her bed. He took her shoulders and shook her gently to wake her up. Her eyes opened and she grabbed onto Severus's arms like he was her life line. She had sweat purring down her face and her hair stuck to her cheeks.

She looked into his eyes and saw what she was doing. She let go of him and looked scared, "I'm sorry, sir." He shook his head with a smile, "Its fine and its Severus, not sir." She looked down with a sheepish smile on her face. He smiled and shook his head again, "Come, breakfast will be ready soon."

"What about my clothes?" She asked. "Hmmm, one moment." He walked out of the room and soon returned with a four feathers. He laid them on the bed and pointed his wand out and pointed at him; therefore, they turned into a black three quarter sleeved sweater, dark blue jeans, a pair of plain black ankle socks and a pair of blue and black running shoes. She looked at them; then at the man as he walked out the door and closed it behind him. She looked at the clothes and picked up the sweater; bring it close to her, she held it close to her chest and nose taking in the scent of the it. It smelled like lilies next to a running stream; granite, the whole house smelled like lilies.

She shook her head to clear it and then quickly dressed. She walked out of the rooms and down the stairs to the sitting room where he was waiting by bookcase to the left of her as she walked in. Wait, that bookshelf wasn't there before, was it? She walked over to him and he smirked at her as he pulled on another snake statue. The bookcase moved away and led to the kitchen, "All of the snakes lead somewhere in my home. The one on the north wall least to my private potion lad and office, the one to the east wall leads to the back garden, the one to the south wall leads up stairs, as you know, and the west wall leads to the kitchen and front door."

She nodded her head as if to tell him that she understood what he was telling her. She walked with him through the doorway and into the kitchen where he proceeded to make breakfast for them. After they were done with their small meal of oatmeal and fruit, they proceeded to the sitting room where they walked upstairs to Severus's room. He walked over to the fireplace and grabbed the floo powder form the mantle. He took a pinch and threw it into the fire where it roared up and turned green. He looked over at Claudia and asked, "Is there anything you want to take with you?" She thought about it for a minute and then ran into the room that she was staying. Severus's looked after her when she ran out of the room, and watched as she came back with the book that he gave her to read.

He looked at her and then shook his head with a smile. "What?" She asked with a smile on her face. He looked up at her with the smirk still on his face and said, "You remind me of your mother. She acted the same way when it came to books." Claudia blushed a little at that and took the offered hand that he held out to her. They walked into the fire and Claudia was a little surprised that she was doing this.

She looked up at Severus and he said clearly "Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall's Office." With that they were gone from the house and flying through the floo network. They soon landed in another fireplace with Severus landing on his feet and Claudia stumbled a little from the sudden stop. Severus placed an arm around her torso to steady her and stand her back up with a smirk on his face from her first time. "Severus, what a pleasure to see you." A woman's voice greeted them.

Claudia looked up and saw an older standing next to an old wooden desk with a red padded straight back wooden chair. She greying black hair pulled tight into a bun and striking green eyes under square glasses. She wore dark green robes and stood tall, showing that she was an important person. "Hello McGonagall." Severus told the woman. "Now, Severus, you know that it's Minerva, and who is this young one?" She asked looking at Claudia through her glasses. "This, Minerva, "Severus said and didn't miss the smirk from the older woman, "is Claudia Potter. I found her after she ran away from her relatives."

Minerva looked at him in shock and brought a hand up to her mouth at looking at her. "Claudia?" She asked the young girl. Claudia nodded her head at the woman, and Minerva opened her arms to her, "Come here, let me take a closer look at you." Claudia looked at Severus and then walked over to the woman. Minerva placed her hands on Claudia's shoulder and took in her features. "You look just like your mother in every way. I especially like the black hair from your father and the red highlights from your mother, you have both of them in you."

"You knew my parents?" She asked softly, "Knew them, oh, that hardly an understatement. I was there when you were born, dear. I even got to hold you and you were a tiny one at that time; I can tell you still are." She said taking her in even more. "When you're here, I'll make sure you eat enough so you can grow tall like your father was." "That's actually something I would like to talk to you about, would you mind watching her while I talk with Professor Dumbledore about her?" "Of course, Severus." She told him. He nodded his head and walked out of the room.

She turned to look at Claudia and smiled, "So, what do you have planned for today, dear?" Claudia shook her head as she held the book close to her. Minerva smiled at her sincerely and held out her hand, "Why don't I take you to Hogsmeade and show you around, hmm?" She asked her. Claudia looked at her with curiosity in her eyes and leaned her head to the side. Minerva looked at her and laughed, "You look like your mother when you do that." She had some kind of glint in her eyes that made Claudia trust the woman.

Claudia took the woman's hand after a while and walked with her out the door. They walked down the stairs and Claudia saw all of the wonders around her as they walked through the hallways of the big place. She saw of the wonders in the castle, from ghost to the moving paintings. Even the moving stairs made her face lite up in delight. Minerva looked at her with a little sadness in her eyes at the thought of so much that she had to go through. It broke her heart to see that in that young girl; that she took everything in her life as amazement.

She took the girl down a dirt path to a small village and stopped at the gates, "Welcome to Hogsmeade." Claudia looked around and then smiled at the woman. Minerva smiled down at her and then leaded her around the village. She showed her all of the things in the village and took her into every shop that there was in the whole little village. Claudia enjoyed herself not knowing what Severus was doing in the castle above them.

Severus made the trudge up to Professor Dumbledore's office and up to the statue. "Lemon drop." He said in discuss to the statue and it jumped out of the stairs that soon started to spin up. Severus walked up to the top stair and let it spin all the way up to the top. Once at the top, Severus walked over to the door and knocked roughly on the door, waiting for a reply to come to his ears. "Come in, Severus." The old man's voice filled his ears as the door opened on its own accord.

Severus walked into the room and saw the ancient professor sitting behind his desk with the twinkle in his eyes. Severus sat in one of the chairs that was offered to him and nodded his head to the man. "How can I help you, my boy? Would you like a lemon drop?" "No thank you, Professor. I want to talk to you about something that has come to my attention recently." "How recently are we talking about?" The professor asked. "Last night, to be precise, sir. I was graced with the presents of Claudia Potter coming to my house last night crying to my clothing. I took her home with me and have found put that she was being abused at her home."

"What makes you say that?" He asked with a twinkle in his eyes. "She let me look at her memories and I saw everything that happened to her that her relatives inflicted on her. They have broken almost every bone in her body and caused her so many bruises that I am surprise that her skin turned back to normal. Can you image how many nightmares that she has had over the course of time that she was there? She had one last night in my home, right next to me, and I never heard one sound come from her. She must have been taught that if she made any sound that she would be punished."

"Now, Severus, you know that she could have morphed the memories to show you what she wanted to think. They could be loving parents that miss her very much and-" "THEY ARE NOT LOVING PARENTS YOU, OLD COOT! THEY WERE KILLING HER AND YOU DID NOTHING TO STOP IT FROM HAPPENING AT ALL AS SHE TOOK IT EVERYDAY IN SILENCE! SHE WILL NEVER GO BACK THERE AND I WILL HANDLE THEM MYSELF!" With that, Severus spun around and walked out of the office and down to the gates that led out of Hogwarts and to Number 4 Private Drive. Little did he know was that the Headmaster followed him down and came with him.

They both arrived at the front door together and Severus knocked on the door, "I thought that you didn't believe me." "I don't, I just don't want to see you go to jail for something stupid. You are a needed spy, my boy." Severus was going to say something about that when the door flew open and revealed a very big man in the doorway. He looked a very deep color of purple as he looked down at them. "Can I help you?" He said through gritted teeth.

"Yes, one we would like to come in and two we want to talk about your niece." Severus said as he pulled out his wand and moved the man away from the doorway. He walked them into the living room where the rest of the family were waiting as Severus backed the man into the couch and made him sit down. Dumbledore sat down in one of the chairs and Severus stood in the doorway and looked around the room and into the hallway. "What do you want to know about her?" Petunia asked them as she eyed Severus wearily.

"Well for starters, why does it look like she was not even in this house in this first place? I see no pictures of her anywhere." Severus asked as he turned to look at them with his eyes blank and cold. "We never accepted her into our family." Petunia squeaked as she knew what Severus was capable of doing. Severus looked like he was about to throw curse after curse at them for what the woman just said to him. "We didn't know how to accept her into our family she was weird and wasn't like us what were we supposed to do; we were scared of her and I mean we tried to beat it out of her so she would be normal like the rest of the kids her age and then maybe she could be accepted into our family I me it was just like your father and-" "SILENCE!" Severus roared at them; he was tired of hearing her talk like that and bringing up his father only poked the sleeping bear, as the Muggles would say.

Petunia fell deathly silent and started to vibrate next to her husband and her son on the floor. "HOW DARE YOU TALK TO MY WIFE LIKE THAT YOU FREAK!" Vernon yelled at the man as spit flew everywhere. Severus took out his wand again and pointed it at the large man that was starting to get up from his seat, but froze at the sight of the wand. He slowly lowered himself back down onto the couch and stayed silent for the rest of the time. "I have seen what you have done to her while she was living here with you and have come to the conclusion of one thing; I will be taking her in and raising her up in a good environment that is right for her." He said as he started to walk out of the door, but turned to look at them with a smirk on his face, "You will be getting the forms from me soon and you will never see her and the money that she took from you ever again as long as she is with me. I feel that the money was rightfully hers in the first place."

He turned away from them and walked out of the house apperating back to the school with Dumbledore right behind in shock. As they arrived back, Severus was striding to the dungeons that was his home during the school year and walked into his private office. He sat down on of the couched in the room and brought his hands up to his face. He soon felt a hand on his shoulder and saw that it was Dumbledore with a sad look on his face. "I'm so sorry, my boy. I never knew what was going on in that house. Where is she now?" "With Minerva; I asked her to watch her for me as I went to deal with that problem." "Good for now would be a good time to make a list of everything that you will need for her in her new life.

Severus looked at him and summoned a piece of parchment and a quill, and charmed it to write whatever he said. "Well first, she will need some new clothes since she has been wearing her cousin's old hand-me-downs. She will also need some books for her to read as she is with me and her school things since she will be starting this year. I'll also need to find out what she interested in since her birthday is coming up fast. I don't know how to do this." "Yes, you do." Albus told him as he placed a hand on his shoulder.

Severus looked at the man and then bowed his head to look at his hands in his lap. After a while, Albus left him alone and Severus sat there thing about all of the things that he could do for her while she was with him. A little while later, a brown barn owl flew into his quarters. He received a note from the two women inviting him to lunch at the Three Broom Sticks at noon sharp. Severus looked at his emerald eye embellished silver pocket watch and decided to head out and be there early as he usually was. He decided that he would be able to look around and see if he could find something that she may like. He took his pouch of coins that he had and his travel cloak, and started to make his way down to Hogsmeade.

As he walked through the gates he saw the two women walking over to the book store and took long strides to make his way over to them. Once he was walking along side of them, after startling Minerva and receiving a in the arm, they were walking together into the store. Minerva walked over to the novel section and was looking for something for her while Severus leaned over to Claudia and whispered into her ear, "Why don't you go and look for something that you might like." She looked up at him with a smile on her face and her eyes lit up with glee and ran over to the fiction section of the book store. Severus shook his head with a smirk and walked over to the potion section and looked for the new _Hidden Potions in the World_ book for his collection and the new _Defense against Dark Spells_. He soon when looking for the new child that has been living with and found her in the section with the elegant journals; she was looking at a certain green one with the Irish Tree of Life symbol on the front.

Severus walked behind her just as she was reaching for the book and gently placed his hands onto her shoulder, making her jump into the air a little. She turned around to face him and a sheepish smile came over her face when she saw who it was. He looked down at her and smiled with a sincere smile on his face. He looked over her head just by his eyes and looked back down at her and, he saw that she didn't notices him looking at the book. _"She must like to wright. I'll need to search this more and see what else I can find out about her."_ "Come; let's go look for books that you might like to read. We need to fill up your bookshelves in your room."

He just said _her _bookshelves in _her _room and she liked the sound of that being told to her. She took his offered hand and he led her over to the bookshelves filled with books her age. She picked out a few adventure ones and all of the books about the history of the new world that she was in that the store had. Severus picked some out on Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts. The other books that she would get would be her school books and those were explanatory. He really found out easily about her love for history, just like her mother and even him, which is weird since James never did like history. He figured that she got it more from her mother then anyone really.

While she was looking at the books Minerva walked over to them; Severus whispered in her ear about the green journal that she was looking at with the Irish Tree of Life on the cover and asked her to pick it up for him. He had promise to repay her later on. She nodded her head and walked over to the book that he was talking about and picked it up; hiding it from Claudia's view. After Claudia had picked out a huge pile of books, Severus laughed at the sight and made a comment about how she didn't have to buy the whole store at one and that they could come back to get other books that she may want, but he bought all of the books for her anyway and the cashier was more than happy to sell the books to them seeing as to how many she was getting. Severus paid the man 39 galleons 9 sickles and 2 knuts; the man was so thrilled to sell the books and receive the money since it was the most that he had sold since he has been the owner of the shop.

After they finished, Severus called for Minerva and told her that they would be over at the Apothecary looking for new ingredients for his potions and how he need to stock up on some that were running low at home. She waved them off and looked for more books that she could get. When Claudia turned away Minerva held up the journal as in to ask if it was the right one; Severus nodded his head to the woman and then led the girl out of the shop before she bought the entire store. They walked across the street and over to another. Before going in, Severus turned to look at her and grabbed her shoulders, "Some of the things in here is really scary for someone your age and if you feel like you don't want to come in you can wait out here for me. I only need to get a few things in here and I will be right out."

With that in mind, Claudia looked into his eyes and told him, "Can I stay out here and wait for you. I don't really like dark things." The way that she said dark and not scary broke his heart to see her like that. He nodded his head and walked inside. Claudia was outside for a few moments when she looked across the street and to the left a little at the store next to the book store. The thing in the window caught her eye and she walked over to get a better look. What caught her eye was a quill, but not just any quill; it was a green quill with a silver tipped and six other tips to change it for different writing stiles. It also came with its own ink and little stand for the quill to sit in. It was the most beautiful writing quill that she has ever seen.

She didn't know how long she was standing there when there was a hand placed on her shoulder. She turned around to see a man with a long flowing silver beard that he tucked into the belt of his blue robes with sparkling blue eyes that were behind half-moon glasses. He was very old and had a kind grandfather feel to him. The man smiled down at her and she smiled back up at him. "Hello, you must be Claudia." "Yes, sir." She answered with respect to him.

"What are you doing out here all alone?" "Severus is in the store over there," She said pointing to the shop that she was just standing outside of, "and asked me if I would be uncomfortable going inside with all of the dark things inside so I asked to stay out here, and as I was standing out here I saw this quill set and it was just so beautiful to look at it. I've never seen anything like it." She said turning back to the quill set and looked at them longingly. She always loved books and stories that she would hear from her cupboard under the stairs whenever her aunt would read to her cousin in the living room when they were younger. She even took old books from Dudley old room and taught herself how to read, but the day that she started school and got better grades then Dudley, she was locked into her cupboard for a week with no food and was only out to do chores and use the bathroom. She shook her head to get out of her daze and then looked back at the man standing behind her.

He was still smiling at her and then patted her head. It was the strangest feeling that she ever felt. No one has ever touched her like that. He walked away just as Severus was walking out of the shop. He was looking for Claudia and was getting worried until he saw her across the street at Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop. He was really relieved and so he walked over to her on the other side of street and right up behind her. She saw him coming in the glass, so she turned around to look at him with a little worry in her eyes that she would be in trouble. She didn't mean to stand there for so long and was going to go back across the street before he came out, but she got so lost at looking at the quill that she and talking to the man that she lost track of the time.

He saw the look and gave her a reassuring smile to her. She saw the smile and returned it back to him. He looked over her head at the quill set in the window and then back down at her. She looked up at him and then just took his hand into hers. He smiled down at her and then walked back over to the book Gladrags Wizardwear store right as Minerva was walking out of the shop. "Well I'm done with book shopping for now. How about we go eat before we go to. We need to get you some new clothes instead of Severus using feather to make your clothes. Not that your Transfiguration is bad it's very good, but one; you would not have clothes her size laying around your house, and two; I see the feather fluff on the sweater." Minerva said picking a little one off.

Severus looked at the woman with one eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face. Claudia looked between them and smiled a little at them. They walked over to a big cottage like building with a small wooden sigh at the door that said _Three Broomstick_. She smiled at the name and was led into the little place. They walked over to a table with padded benches that was close to the door. Severus and Claudia sat next to each other in the corner facing the whole place and Minerva sat across from them. Soon young looking woman with blond wavy hair and green eyes walked over to their table.

She had a kind smile on her face which got bigger when she saw who was at the table, "Why, Severus Snape. Fancy seein' ya here, and who is this little one here?" She asked as she saw Claudia. She really liked this lady; Severus on the other hand was blushing at her. "This is Claudia, Madam Rosmerta." Minerva answered. "As in Claudia Potter?" Madam Rosemerta asked as she lowered her voice for only them to here. Minerva nodded her head and her face dropped into a sincere smile.

She nodded her head at them and took their orders. Severus with a light salad, Minerva with a small Shepard Pie, and Claudia with a small bowl of Chicken Tikka Masala. They all had an order of butter beer, Severus very cautious about letting Claudia start drinking it and, Minerva and Madam Rosmerta part to convince him that it wasn't going to hurt her at all. They all had enjoyed lunch very well and, the trio walked out of the little pub feeling full and happy as they made their way to Gladrags Wizardwear for some regular clothing. Little did they know that a meddlesome old man was watching them from afar knowing a secret that would change everything in the war and, the outcome of the young dark haired man and the young child with him.

A/N: Bing Search in Images

Quill Pen:

engraving-quill-pen-dragon-phoenix-coloured-glaze-base-green-1-origin

engraving-quill-pen-dragon-phoenix-coloured-glaze-base-green-2-origin

engraving-quill-pen-dragon-phoenix-coloured-glaze-base-green-3-origin

engraving-quill-pen-dragon-phoenix-coloured-glaze-base-green-4-origin

engraving-quill-pen-dragon-phoenix-coloured-glaze-base-green-5-origin

engraving-quill-pen-dragon-phoenix-coloured-glaze-base-green-6-origin

engraving-quill-pen-dragon-phoenix-coloured-glaze-base-green-7-origin

engraving-quill-pen-dragon-phoenix-coloured-glaze-base-green-8-origin

Notebook:

gael-song-leather-journals

Pocket Watch:

3822720-original


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